According to Roman Catholic doctrine, popes and Catholic church
councils are infallible. This means that whenever they make official
declarations concerning matters of faith or morals, God supernaturally
protects them from making errors. Infallibility applies to all Roman
Catholic popes and church councils: past, present, and future. [Note 1]

"Webster's Dictionary" defines "infallible" as "not capable of
erring". It says that "infallible" as used by the Roman Catholic Church
means "incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or
morals".

What happens if a pope or a Catholic church council makes an
"infallible" declaration which directly contradicts the "infallible"
declaration of another pope or church council?

Truth does not contradict truth. Therefore, if the "infallible"
pronouncements of the popes and Catholic church councils really are
infallible, they will never contradict other "infallible"
pronouncements. So if there is even one contradiction, then the
doctrine of infallibility cannot be correct.

The claim for papal infallibility does not stand up to the test of
history. Pope Zosimus (417-418 A.D.) reversed the pronouncement of a
previous pope. He also retracted a doctrinal pronouncement that he
himself had previously made. Pope Honorious was condemned as a heretic
by the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681 A.D.). (This means that
Honorious made doctrinal statements which are contrary to the Roman
Catholic faith.) He was also condemned as a heretic by Pope Leo II, as
well as by every other pope until the eleventh century. So here we have
"infallible" popes condemning another "infallible" pope as a heretic.
In 1870, the First Vatican Council abolished "infallible" papal decrees
and the decrees of two "infallible" councils. [Note 2]

The doctrine of the Assumption of Mary was officially declared to be
a dogma of the Roman Catholic faith on November 1, 1950. This means
that every Roman Catholic is required to believe this doctrine without
questioning it. However, as we will see, the teaching of the Assumption
of Mary originated with heretical writings which were officially
condemned by the early Church.

In 495 A.D., Pope Gelasius issued a decree which rejected this
teaching as heresy and its proponents as heretics. In the sixth
century, Pope Hormisdas also condemned as heretics those authors who
taught the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. Here we have
"infallible" popes declaring a doctrine to be a heresy. Then on
November 1, 1950, we have Pope Pius XII (another "infallible" pope)
declaring the same doctrine to be official Roman Catholic doctrine,
which all Catholics are required to believe. [Note 3]

So before November 1, 1950, any Catholic who believed in the
Assumption of Mary was a heretic (because of "infallible" declarations
of popes). But after November 1, 1950, any Catholic who failed to
believe in the Assumption of Mary was a heretic (because of the
"infallible" declaration of Pope Pius XII).

In 1864, Pope Pius IX "infallibly" declared that the idea that
people have a right to freedom of conscience and freedom of worship is
"insanity," "evil," "depraved," and "reprobate". He also declared that
non-Catholics who live in Catholic countries should not be allowed to
publicly practice their religion. In 1888, Pope Leo XIII "infallibly"
declared that freedom of thought and freedom of worship are wrong.
These encyclicals are available on-line. [Note 4 gives addresses for
them.]

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) produced a document entitled
"Declaration on Religious Liberty" which states that all people have a
right to freedom of religion. [Note 5]

Now I certainly agree with the idea of freedom of religion. However,
it totally contradicts the "infallible" declarations of Popes Pius IX
and Leo XIII. It also contradicts the anathemas of the Council of
Trent, the killing of "heretics," the Inquisition, the burning of
people who translated the Bible into the language of the common people,
and the persecution of Protestants.

Freedom of religion also contradicts modern Canon Law (1988). Canon
1366 says that parents are to be punished with "a just penalty" if they
allow their children to "be baptized or educated in a non-Catholic
religion". The reference to baptism shows that this refers to Christian
religions which are not Roman Catholic. [Note 6] (During the
Inquisition, "a just penalty" included things like torture and being
burned at the stake. The Inquisition was based on Canon Law.) (See the
article "Hunting 'Heretics'".)

Here the Catholic Church is on the horns of a dilemma. If it says
that people have a right to freedom of religion, then it admits that it
is not infallible. If it says that it is infallible, then it admits
that it really does not believe that people have a right to freedom of
religion.

The Catholic Church can claim infallibility, or it can claim that it
has seen the error of its ways and it now supports freedom of religion.
But it can't have it both ways.

Two Roman Catholic organizations have found contradictions between
"infallible" doctrinal declarations of the Second Vatican Council and
"infallible" doctrinal pronouncements of Pope Pius IX. [Note 7 gives
addresses of on-line articles dealing with these contradictions.]

The conservative group (True Catholic) concludes that, therefore,
the Second Vatican Council must not be legitimate. The liberal group
(Women Priests) concludes that, therefore, Pope Pius IX taught
"errors". Either way, there are contradictions between official
doctrinal declarations of an "infallible" pope and an "infallible"
church council.

True Catholic also claims that Pope John Paul II has taught 101
things which are contrary to "infallible" Catholic doctrines which were
declared by "infallible" popes and church councils. They conclude that
John Paul is therefore a heretic, which, according to Canon Law, means
that he is not a valid pope. So they call him an anti-pope. [Note 8
gives the address of an on-line article.]

If John Paul II is not a valid pope, then the papal chair has been
vacant. In order to rectify this situation, True Catholic has elected a
pope. On May 20, 1998, Pope Pius XIII was elected. [Note 9 gives the
address of an on-line article.]

So we now have two men who claim to be Pope: John Paul II and Pius
XIII. It seems that having two popes at the same time is not confined
to the Middle Ages.

SUMMARY

There are "infallible" doctrinal declarations which contradict one
another. Therefore, the doctrine of infallibility is not valid.

The contradiction of "infallible" doctrines has caused some very
conservative Catholics to believe that John Paul II is not a valid
pope, and the Second Vatican Council was not a valid council. It has
also caused some very liberal Catholics to believe that Pope Pius IX
taught doctrinal errors.

USE OF THIS ARTICLE

I encourage you to link to this article. You have
permission to quote from this article, as long as you do it fairly and
accurately. You have permission to make copies of this article for
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NOTES

1. "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic
Conference, 2000), paragraph 891. This book comes in numerous editions
and languages. Because it has numbered paragraphs, statements can be
accurately located in spite of the variety of editions.

The "Catechism" is available on-line. It does searches by topic or
by paragraph number.

2. William Webster, "The Church of Rome at the Bar of History"
(Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), pages 63-71.

3. William Webster, "The Church of Rome at the Bar of History,"
pages 81-85.

4. Pope Pius IX, "Quanta Cura" ("Condemning Current Errors"),
December 8, 1864. The "error" is given in Section 3, second paragraph.
(Most numbered sections consist of only one paragraph. This section has
two paragraphs.) The condemnation of all of the "errors" described in
the encyclical is given in paragraph 6. This encyclical is available
on-line.

Pope Pius IX, "The Syllabus of Errors," December 8, 1864, paragraphs
15, 77, and 78. The "Syllabus of Errors" accompanied the encyclical
"Quanta Cura". In reading it, remember that Pius condemned every
statement that you are reading. This encyclical is available on-line.

6. Canon 1366, "Code of Canon Law," Latin English edition, New
English Translation. (Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America,
1988), page 427. Canon Laws provide the legal basis for everything that
the Roman Catholic Church officially does. Even the Inquisition and the
persecution of Protestants were supported by Canon Law.

7. "The Errors of Pope Pius IX". This article gives extensive
quotations, with references to Pope Pius IX's encyclicals and documents
from the Second Vatican Council. It is on-line.